Week 6 Thoughts

An NFL week without the Minnesota Vikings simply doesn't feel right. They did need the time off to get some players healthy. Week 6 is usually a little early for a bye but it came at the right time for the Vikings this year.

As for the teams that did play, there were some games in Week 6 that looked like a blowout early but ended great.

The New Orleans Saints jumped all over the Carolina Panthers early. The Saints had a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Panthers whittled that big lead to a single point at 31-30 with over nine minutes to play. A Saints field goal with 11 seconds to play was the difference in the 41-38 win.

The defending NFC champion Panthers are 1-5. The good news is that their comeback against the Saints might have been their first real sign of life this season. The bad news is the horrible record. They are still looking up at nearly the entire NFC.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees was a statistical dynamo. 34/49 for 465 yards and four touchdowns. Those four touchdowns traveled 87, 9, 50, and 8 yards. 154 of his 465 yards went for touchdowns.

Even though they never quite pulled away from the Philadelphia Eagles the Washington Redskins controlled the game against their division foe. The Redskins jumped out to a 14-0 lead and they made it look easy. The Eagles offense couldn't get anything going with their first few possessions. A kick return score and a pick-6 kept the Eagles in the game. The Redskins dominated and the score was 14-14.

Those quick scores got the Eagles back in the game but kept the offense off the field. They only had a couple of offensive snaps in the second quarter and one was a kneel down to end the half.

Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz had his first shaky game of the season. 11/22 for 179 yards. He was harassed the entire game. He was sacked five times and hit 11 times. The Eagles are really going to miss right tackle Lane Johnson. His ten-game suspension started yesterday. Rookie Halapoulivaati Vaitai replaced Johnson and struggled against Ryan Kerrigan.

The Eagles rallied in the fourth quarter but Wentz could only lead his team to a couple of field goals rather than touchdowns. 27-20 Redskins.

Redskins second-year receiver Jamison Crowder looks like he has some feisty Santana Moss-like play to him.

When the Tennessee Titans increased their lead over the Cleveland Browns to 28-13 with just under seven minutes to play the game seemed over. A Cleveland touchdown, onisde kick recovery, and another touchdown and suddenly it's 28-26. Unfortunately for the Browns there was no more time. If they had converted the two-point conversion following that first touchdown they might have rallied for their first win of the season. Close doesn't make loss #6 feel any better.

The Jacksonville Jaguars scored all 17 of their points against the Chicago Bears in the fourth quarter. That was just what they needed to win 17-16.

The Buffalo Bills looked lost after the first two games of the season. Now they are soaring with a four-game win streak. The scores in those four games: 33-18 over the Arizona Cardinals. 16-0 over the New England Patriots. 30-19 over the Los Angeles Rams. 45-16 over the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers did have an early lead yesterday. 10-7 after Colin Kaepernick found a wide open Torrey Smith for 53 yards early in the second quarter. The Bills outscored the 49ers 38-6 over the final 40+ minutes.

Running back LeSean McCoy was terrific again for the Bills. 19 carries for 140 yards and three touchdowns. He's a big reason for the Bills turning their season around.

The Miami Dolphins rode a hot Jay Ajayi for a shocking 30-15 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ajayi ran for 204 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns. The second touchdown and the final 62 yards came on the last significant play of the game.

The Dolphins defense got to Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. A knee injury put him on the sideline for a series. There are reports that a "clean-up" surgery is necessary.

The Steelers have been brutal in their two losses.

The Dolphins offense had their starting five lineman on the field for the first time this season. It looks like it helped.

The Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams played a 60 minute, back-and-forth scorcher. 0-7 Lions. 7-7. 14-7 Rams. 14-14. 21-14 Lions. 21-21. 28-21 Rams. 28-28. 31-28 Lions when the clock hit 0:00. It doesn't get any more back-and-forth than that.

Rams quarterback Case Keenum completed a Rams-record 20 straight passes in the game.

It appears that New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. finally got happy against the Baltimore Ravens. 8 catches for 222 yards and two touchdowns. His touchdowns covered 75 and 66 yards. The 66-yarder, on fourth-and-1, ended up being the game-winner with 1:24 to play. 27-23 Giants.

Tom Brady announced his return to the lineup last week. Rob Gronkowski finally announced his presence in the lineup this week against the Cincinnati Bengals. 7 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown. Brady played well in his second game back from that ludicrous suspension. 29/35 for 376 yards and three touchdowns. The Bengals were feisty through most of this game but the Patriots pulled away late for a 35-17 win.

Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict is an idiot. His low hit at the knees of Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett simply has no place in the league. Burfict's intentions were clear. His stupidity on the field is becoming routine.

Six of the better teams in the league played in the second set of the day's games.

Dallas Cowboys @ Green Bay Packers
Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland Raiders
Atlanta Falcons @ Seattle Seahawks

From start to finish the Cowboys had control of their game with the Packers. The Cowboys offensive rookies were a big reason for the win. Quarterback Dak Prescott was 18/27 for 247 yards and three touchdowns. Ezekiel Elliott extended his streak of 130+ yards rushing games to four. 28 carries for 157 yards against the Packers.

Prescott threw the first interception of his career. So the talking heads can stop talking about that.

The Packers settled for field goals too often and turned the ball over too often. One of those turnovers was inside the Cowboys five-yard line. The Packers had a chance to make it a one-score game late in the third quarter. They gave the ball to the Cowboys on a shaky play call. Aaron Rodgers up the middle on a keeper. Even on his worst passing days Rodgers is a better quarterback than fullback.

There was no late-game magic for the Oakland Raiders against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs led 13-10 at the half. It was 26-10 at the end. Cheifs quarterback Alex Smith was extremely efficient. 19/22 for 224 yards.

Chiefs 346-pound nose tackle Dontari Poe even scored one of his team's touchdowns.

The Seattle Seahawks needed some help from the officials to hold off the Atlanta Falcons in the 26-24 win. A desperation Matt Ryan heave to Julio Jones with 1:39 to play fell harmlessly to the ground because Seahawks corner Richard Sherman had a firm hold of the receiver's arm.

This was a game of runs. The Seahawks went on the first run and controlled the first and second quarters. They led 17-3 at the half. The Falcons then went on their run and led 24-17 at the end of the third quarter. The Seahawks scored all of the fourth quarter points to win 26-24.

Brock Osweiler played his first "statement" game as the Houston Texans franchise quarterback. The Texans weren't doing much of anything in their game against the Indianapolis Colts. The Texans were trailing 23-9 with less than three minutes to play in the game. Osweiler rallied the Texans to two touchdowns in regulation to force overtime and a field goal in overtime to win. This was a game that the Texans really had no business winning but Osweiler and running back Lamar Miller found a way to score enough late points.

This was the third game this season that the Colts let slip from their grasp at the end. Despite the rocky start to the season they could have tied the Texans and Titans at the top of AFC South with a win. Now they are two games back.

The Arizona Cardinals host the New York Jets tonight to close the Week 6 schedule.

The Vikings return to NFL action next week in Philadelphia.